Why Is It So Hard to Do Something That Should Be Easy? (Wall of Awful pt. 1)

Please share!!! This is one of the most important videos I think we've ever made.

Special thanks to Brendan Mahan for coming on the show!

And to brains Stephen and Palestrina for doing all the editing and animation!

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LINKS:

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Why is it so hard to do something that should be easy?

"The Show Must Be Go”, “Life of Riley”
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[rhearaab]

"You ARE doing work, even though it looks like you're not. - It's just emotional work. You're climbing the wall!"
Thank you.

[penelopeabreu]

OHHHH so that’s why I explode every time my mom tells me to do something that I was mentally preparing myself to do

[fuzzygerbil-chisme]

Whoa, I've been interrupting my kids while they're climbing their walls. Thank you for helping me be a better parent.

[katiakominski]

When I had to write essays in high school I would often stare at the blank document for over an hour or two before getting out a paragraph at least. It was very de-motivating and felt like a huge waste of time. I did usually eventually get it done. Often late. But having had to give up so much time for it, only made me hate it more.

[mallorymontenegro]

I’ve said for a long time “I’m really not procrastinating, I’m just waiting until I’m good and ready to do that thing” and I didn’t know exactly why, nobody understood what I was talking about, I didn’t really know how to put it into words, and this video finally explains it so perfectly.

[tiffanyhannibal]

"you ARE doing work, it's just emotional work ". So soothing to hear

[vickiignaszak]

Confession: I revisit this video whenever I'm really struggling with a wall of awful in order to remind myself that there is a healthy way to climb the wall that doesn't involve blaming myself for the wall's existence or blaming the wordly around me for not working the way I need it to.

[randomtrucks]

that wall of awful thing totally makes sense. I've always tried to explain to people that I'm not just working on a paper, I'm working with my massive self hate that turns up whenever I try to write. What helps sometimes is actually TALKIN OUT LOUD with myself like a crazy person! I'm guiding myself through the process or, and this one's fun, singing about how much I hate what I'm doing and how silly I feel
edit: wouldn't recommend doing this in the library though

[alanmonteros]

I have been on a binge of ADHD content after being diagnosed and honestly I am crying so much at the amount of time lost, the failed relationships and how there are so many people that can relate to what I feel

[Maxarcc]

"Why can't I go around the wall?"
"Because it's a metaphor, and it's infinitely wide. I know, because I made it up."
Lol, shout out to this guy.

[skyepollard]

I loved the example of the kid with the binder because that was and still is me. I never understood why I got so unreasonably angry when people would do things for me but I guess that it's that they've interrupted my natural way of getting to do The Thing and that sets me back at zero because I feel useless for not doing it in enough time for someone else.

[Alexandra_Wolf]

Great examples for me are phone calls. Returning things to stores. Checking emails. Deleting photos off of my phone (I have 40, 000 now!). Scheduling appointments. Making any large purchase. Dealing with any government things. Fixing broken phone screens. Reorganizing anything (without add meds). Making any huge life changes that would be beneficial to me. Even breaking up with someone.

[jennwedlake]

I call it being “frozen” ... even though I know what I need to do, I’ve done it before, I know it’s gonna be ok, but I am literally frozen in place.

[emmascheuerman]

I’m literally watching this video sobbing because I always thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t do easy things that my parents would be frustrated over and now I’m 24 and realizing that it’s just how my brain works and it’s not wrong or bad, just very different from the other people in my life. Wow. Amazing job.

[autumnrae]

I’m not diagnosed but have had a longstanding suspicion that I have ADHD. The best way I’ve found to describe the “thing” that keeps me from just doing something I know I should is by telling people it feels like a physical force stopping me from doing it. Like my body may not feel much but in my brain there is a physical sensation of being physically stopped from moving forward toward whatever task I need to do, I’ve often said, like a brick wall in front of me. All of a sudden I feel a lot less crazy for saying that and having people look at me like I’ve just come up with another excuse to be unproductive and lazy. Thank you

[elainaswanson]

This really helps me concerning “adulting” tasks. Things I know should just take even a 30 second phone call or email, or God forbid, a 5 minute deal, and I put them off for

[cfrka]

" I know, cause i made this up" crackin up lmao

[小鹿-pf]

i am actually crying because someone explained my life in 5 minutes. no one could ever understand me, and i always felt like i must be crazy or broken or stupid for always having to take ages to get myself ready to do even the most basic stuff. thank you for this channel, you might have literally saved my life

[ConManAU]

I’ve had to explain to my wife that I sometimes feel a small spike of anger when it turns out she’s done a chore I was going to do. I know that it’s good that it got done and I appreciate her help, but she didn’t know that I had scaled the wall only to find nothing left on the other side and that takes an emotional toll.

[laurapigg]

If they taught THIS stuff at school seminars... Imagine how many of us adults would have discovered our struggle as kids. This could be such a good awareness tool for neurotypical parents